Women's Rights To Inherit Land Case Study Of Embakasi Constituency, Kenya

Table of Contents

CERTIFICATION ................................................................................................................. ii

DECLARATION ................................................................................................................... ii

DEDICATION ...................................................................................................................... iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .................................................................................................... .iv

LIST OF INTERNATIONAL INSTRUMENTS ................................................................ vii

LIST OF STATUTES ......................................................................................................... viii

LIST OF CASES ................................................................................................................. .ix

CHAPTER ONE ......................................................................................................................... 1

1.0 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. I

1.1 The Situation in Kenya ...................................................................................................... 4

1.2 The Succession Act Fails to Sufficiently Protect Widows ................................................. 7

1.3 BACKGROUND ................................................................................................................... 9

1.4 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM .................................................................................. 12

1.5 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY ........................................................................................ 13

1.5.1 GENERAL OBJECTIVES ......................................................................................... 13

1.5.2 SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES .......................................................................................... 13

1.6 RESEARCH ASSUMPTIONS ........................................................................... , .............. 14

1.6.1 RESEARCH QUESTIONS ............................................................................ ) ............ l4

1. 7 SCOPE OF THE STUDY ................................................................................................ 14

1.7.1 GEOGRAPHICAL SCOPE ....................................................................................... l4

1.7.2 TIMESCOPE ........................................................................................................ 15

1.7.3 SUBJECT SCOPE ................................................................................................... l5

1.8 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY .................................................................................... 15

1.9 JUSTIFICATION OF THE STUDY ........................................................................................ 16

CHAPTER TWO ...................................................................................................................... 17

LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................................. l7

2.0 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... l7

CHAPTER THREE .................................................................................................................... 25

METHODOLOGY .................................................................................................................... 25

3.0 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................... 25

3.1 RESEARCH DESIGN ...................................................................................................... 25

v

3.2 STUDY AREA AND POPULATION ................................................................................... 26

3.3 SAMPlE TECHNIQUES AND SIZE ................................................................................ 27

3.4 DATA COllECTION ..................................................................................................... 27

3.4.1 INTERVIEWS ........................................................................................................ 27

3.4.2 QUESTIONNAIRES •...•.......................................................................................... 28

3.4.3 OBSERVATION .•.................................................................................................. 28

3.5 DATA PROCESSING AND ANAlYSIS ............................................................................ 29

3.6 liMITATION OF THE STUDY .......................................................................................... 29

CHAPTER FOUR ..................................................................................................................... 30

DATA ANAlYSIS, PRESENTATION AND INTERPRETATION .................................................... 30

4.0 INTRODUCTJON .......................................................................................................... 30

4.1 INTERNATIONAl lEGAl STANDARDS .......................................................................... 30

4.2 NATIONAL LAWS ........................................................................................................... 33

4.3 GENERAL INFORMATION ................................................................................................ 36

4.3.1 Specific Jaws that allow women to inherit land ...................................................... 36

4.3.2 loopholes within the laws exploited to deny women their rights to inherit land .. 38

4.3.3 No Inheritance of land from parents by unmarried women .................................. .43

4.3.4 No Inheritance of land from husbands by widows ................................................. .44

4.3.5 No Inheritance of land from husbands by divorced women .................................. .47

4.4 CRITIQUE ......................................................................................................................... 49

CHAPTER FIVE ....................................................................................................................... 51

CONClUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................................ 51

5.0 INTRODUCTJON ............................................................................................................... 51

5.1 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................ 52

5.2 legal Reforms ...........................•..................................................................................... 53

5.3 Institutional and Programmatic Reforms and Initiatives ............................................... 59

BIBLIOGRAPHY ...................................................................................................................... 62

BOOKS ............................................................................................................................... 62

ARTICLES ....................................................................................................................... 62

RELEVANT VEBSITES ................................................................................................. 63